The present invention relates to fasteners for connecting wooden members one to the other and particularly relates to fasteners for joining angularly related wooden members, for example the members forming a frame for a furniture piece, and to the joints formed thereby.
Various types and configurations of fasteners for joining wooden members one to the other have been proposed and utilized in the past. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,427,055 of common assignee herewith, there is disclosed a corner fastener bent to provide planar plate portions each containing teeth struck therefrom for embedment into the members forming the joint. The teeth in that patent are configured to progressively decrease in length from the base of the plate in a direction toward the fold or crease. That configuration of teeth prevents the teeth from distorting the fastener when applied to the members of the joint. One significant disadvantage of this fastener, however, is the relatively thin gauge metal from which it is formed and which is necessary to facilitate bending of the plate to embed the teeth of both plate portions into the members of the joint. In joints used in the furniture construction industry, however, there is a requirement for a very rigid strong structural joint requiring much heavier gauge metal. Another connector plate or fastener for joining angularly related members is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,305,252 of common assignee herewith. The plate of that patent is bent and cut to form planar plate portions having teeth struck therefrom to extend in a common direction whereby the plate is driven toward the corner with the teeth of each plate portion being simultaneously embedded into the members of the joint. Driving a plate of this type is particularly difficult in hard-to-get-at joints, for example corners in a furniture construction. Also, the three members of the joint are joined one to the other simultaneously. This precludes use of this type of fastener where it is desired to first join members in a common plane one to the other and subsequently secure the joined members to one or more additional angularly related members as in a furniture construction.
Other types of fasteners or connector plates have been proposed and utilized but none, to applicant's knowledge, are particularly adaptable for use in forming joints between angularly related wooden members, i.e. hard-to-get-at inside and outside corners. There is a particular need in the furniture construction industry to replace the joint connecting elements with a connector plate which can be readily applied even in the hard-to-get-at corners.